If I had to isolate what was personally most useful (it’d be hard but) I’d pick the combination of your discussion of distorted reward signals and your advice about something to protect. I now notice status wireheading patterns quite frequently (often multiple times daily), and put a stop to them because I recognize they don’t work towards what I actually care about (or maybe because I identify as a rationalist, I’m not sure). Either way I appreciate being able to halt such patterns before they grow into larger action patterns.
This post has been very useful to me.
If I had to isolate what was personally most useful (it’d be hard but) I’d pick the combination of your discussion of distorted reward signals and your advice about something to protect. I now notice status wireheading patterns quite frequently (often multiple times daily), and put a stop to them because I recognize they don’t work towards what I actually care about (or maybe because I identify as a rationalist, I’m not sure). Either way I appreciate being able to halt such patterns before they grow into larger action patterns.